


Live to Die, Rise to Fall.

by TheGreenKing



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Blood, Brain Tumour, Bruce Banner & Loki Friendship, Cancer, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Heavy Angst, Ignores Everything After The Avengers, Just putting that there, Loki & Tony Stark Friendship, Loki (Marvel) Angst, Loki's Punishment But It Reveals Why He Did What He Did In Thor And The Avengers, Magic, Major Illness, No Ships Or Smut, Possible Character Death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sick Loki (Marvel), Vomiting, i'll probably add more later, mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-25 18:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17730554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreenKing/pseuds/TheGreenKing
Summary: Thor arrives at the Avengers tower with Loki, only to explain that Loki's punishment is to remain on Earth with the Avengers and help them during whatever they may face until he dies. However, after only a day on Earth, it's revealed that Loki is ill, and has been for long time. Loki realises then that he has a long and difficult battle ahead of himself, and this time there's one enemy: his own body.





	Live to Die, Rise to Fall.

The sound of thunder and lightning above New York was familiar to the inhabitants of the Avengers tower, as they'd heard it often enough after the battle of New York six months ago. Thor had been coming and going repeatedly during those months, and the team had grown accustomed to hearing the thunder and lightning weekly, or at least once every two weeks. At this point, the tower's reconstruction had been completed and each Avenger had their own floor, each complete with a kitchen, spa, gym and training arena, though they all mostly used the communal floor as they liked each other's company, and that was where they were when Thor arrived at the tower with a very unexpected guest behind him. Tony was the first to make a comment about the raven-haired companion at behind the golden god of thunder.

"What's he doing here? JARVIS, make sure this is real and I haven't drunk myself into hallucinating this." He said, knocking back the rest of the scotch that was in his glass. Loki shifted uncomfortably on his feet behind Thor. 

"Sir, I believe what you and the other teammates are seeing is, in fact, real." The A.I. responded. Tony sighed, and looked around the room, seeing that Clint already had an arrow notched and was aiming at Loki, who's gaze was fixed on the floor, his pale skin made bright by the contrast of the wall behind him. 

"Damn it, alright." He said, setting the glass down and walking over to Thor. "I'll bite. What's he doing here, Sparky?" He asked, cocking his head. The Loki behind Thor seemed entirely different from the one six months ago. Gone was the confidence and pride, and in its place stood what appeared to be a shy and self-conscious being that Tony could have sworn wasn't Loki if it wasn't for the fact he was looking right at him, with his black hair, pale skin and green eyes- Tony was certain they'd been blue six months ago. Or perhaps he was just too drunk to notice back then. Possibly. 

"Do not worry, my friends. Loki is not here to cause trouble. My father has given him his sentence." Thor started, the rest of the team looking at him attentively. "He is to remain here with you and help you until he dies." The god explained. "He has been stripped of his powers save for only a few, so he can appear normal and not cause harm to anyone who touches him. He is harmless now." Clint's bow remained fixed on Loki. 

"How can you be so sure?" The archer asked, keeping his gaze on the other god. 

"My father has made sure it. Rest assured, Barton, he is no danger to you now." Thor said calmly. 

"So we're just supposed to accept that your father, a one-eyed god that we've never met, has taken away Reindeer Games' powers and said that he has to stay here with us, a group of people he pissed off, in a city he almost destroyed half a year ago?" Tony asked, and Thor nodded. 

"That is correct, Stark. Loki has always been a trickster, and if he should cause harm to you or anyone else again while here on Midgard, he will be taken to Asgard and face a much worse punishment." Thor explained. Tony found himself nodding, Clint reluctantly putting his arrow back in its quiver and setting the bow down. 

"Alright, fine. But don't expect us to like him or get along with him." Tony responded. "Oh, and you're sharing your floor with him." Thor nodded.

"A reasonable condition, considering." Thor said, nodding.

"Alright, it's settled. Reindeer Games is staying with us." 

 

The following day, Loki found himself in the library on the communal floor, wandering amongst the bookshelves as he searched for a book that interested him. He found that there were none, much to his displeasure, as he didn't recognise the titles or authors, and he sighed, deciding that he would just have to settle for picking a random book and read it- he knew Midgardians were fond of fiction, so he found a book of that genre and sat down to read it. 

He read for a few hours, halfway through the book, when a familiar pain shot through his head. He dropped the book, pressing both hands into head, cursing quietly. He hadn't had this pain in at least two years, and he wondered what had caused it to return. He groaned in pain, taking slow and deep breaths, waiting for it to pass. The pain ebbed away, and only then was Loki aware of the voice calling his name.

"Loki? Loki, can you hear me?" The voice asked. The black-haired god looked up, seeing the doctor that could turn into that huge green thing- he shifted away from him. 

"I can hear you just fine, thank you." He snapped, looking away from him. 

"Are you alright?" Banner asked, a look of concern flashing over his face. "You looked like you were in some serious pain there." 

"I am fine- I have no need for your concern." He responded. He heard the doctor sigh heavily. 

"At least tell me how long these headaches have been going on for." Loki sighed heavily, realising that the doctor was not going to leave him alone until he told him. 

"They started around two years ago, but they stopped after awhile." He said, looking at him. Banner nodded slowly. 

"And now they've come back, haven't they?" He asked. Loki nodded.

"It would seem so, but this is the first one I've had, so perhaps it is just due to recent events." He said, looking away from him. 

"Alright, but if they persist or get worse, don't be afraid to tell me and we can do something about it." Loki scoffed. 

"I hardly doubt your medical practises could help me." He responded, standing up and walking away. Once he was sure he was out of sight of Banner or any other member of the team, Loki let out a quiet whimper of pain as the headache returned, forcing him to close his eyes and just wish to be home with Frigga there to comfort him. If he missed anything at all during his time with The Other and the Chitauri, it was Frigga. She had always comforted him when hurt and alone, but now he was trapped with his brother and his friends with no one to go to that he felt understood him. But this time he had no means of escape. His magic was almost completely gone, and he couldn't ease his own pain or do anything about it without appearing weak to the others. He sighed, deciding to head back to the room he'd been told he was to stay in, and hope that sleep would get rid of the headache. 

 

Tony was in his lab, tinkering away on some updates on his suits when he decided to ask JARVIS what Loki was doing. 

"JARVIS, what's Reindeer Games doing right now?" He asked, wanting to make sure he didn't have the threat of a god trying to kill him while he worked.

"Sir, Mr Laufeyson is currently sleeping in his room." The AI responded, making Tony frown. Loki didn't strike him as the type to take naps during the day, even if it was only the god's first day at the tower. 

"Scan him and make sure he's actually asleep and not pretending." He ordered, sighing a little. "I really don't trust that bastard here."

"Sir, scans show that Mr Laufeyson is asleep." JARVIS answered, making Tony nod. 

"Alright, but let me know when he wakes up and I want hourly reports on what he does. What he eats, what he reads, where he is-"

"I believe I can do that for you, sir." The AI  interjected. 

"Good, keep me posted." Tony said, before continuing to tinker on his suits. 

 

Thor had just come up to his floor to see Loki after spending some time with Steve, going to his brother's room and knocking on the door before walking in, finding his brother just waking up. Thor frowned, the last time he had remembered Loki sleeping during the day was two years ago, making the god worry for his brother's health. 

"Brother, is everything alright?" He asked, closing the door. Loki made a displeased sound, sitting up. 

"I'm fine, Thor, and I am not your brother." The raven-haired god snapped, glaring up at him. Thor sighed. 

"You've only ever slept during the day when you were unwell, and I shall continue to call you brother until realise that family is more than blood and name." Thor said, moving to sit on the chair by the desk. "Tell me, what is wrong?" He asked.

"What is wrong is that no one will leave me be!" He exclaimed, shooting Thor a look that displayed his anger clearly. Thor looked down. 

"I know you do not wish to be here, brother, but you cannot keep up this hatred of everyone around you. I want you to be happy here, but you can only achieve that if you let people get close to you-"

"I have been here a day and no one has willingly spoken a word to me but you! I do not wish to be here, and I shall continue to not want to speak to anyone else! Now leave me be!" Loki shouted, making Thor sigh again. It was so unlike his brother to be like this, and Thor couldn't help but wonder. He stood and left without a word, sighing. 

 

Once Thor was gone, Loki curled up on the bed, groaning in pain again. His head was still hurting, and he was beginning to feel sick. He stood up slowly, making his way to the bathroom just in time to throw up in the toilet, falling to his knees and gripping the edge of the bowl with both hands, gasping. Once the bout was over, he wiped his mouth and flushed the chain, flinching at how loud it was, and went to go back to bed before the room began to spin, and his vision went black, and he hit the floor with a loud thud. 

 

Tony had just poured himself another scotch when JARVIS gave him an update on everyone's favourite Norse god. 

"Sir, I'm afraid Mr Laufeyson has collapsed after vomiting in his room." The AI said. Tony blinked, surprised. 

"Come again?" He asked. 

"Mr Laufeyson is currently unconscious in his room, sir. I would advise getting a medical team there immediately." The AI responded, and Tony sighed. 

"Alright, get Bruce and some others up there. I'll meet them in the medical floor." He said, downing the scotch and leaving the lab.

 

Bruce arrived at Loki's room in a hurry - he was already concerned for the god after seeing him in the library. Loki had looked like he was in so much pain he was about to collapse, and Bruce couldn't help but think that wasn't normal for the god, regardless of the fact he wasn't exactly human. He walked into the room, medical kit in hand, and his eyes immediately rested on the god's still form on the floor. He sighed, knowing he should have pressed further on the matter of the other's headaches, and got to work checking his vital signs. The paler being's skin felt slightly warm to the touch, and there was a thin sheen of sweat on the god's brow. The medical team arrived, helping Bruce lift Loki on to a gurney to take him to the medical bay. Bruce sighed once more, knowing was not going to be happy once he heard Loki had collapsed and that there was a more than likely possibility that something wasn't right with his younger brother. 

 

The next thing Loki became aware of was an incessant beeping next to him, and that was laying on a bed that wasn't the one in the room he had been given. He opened his eyes, blinking a few times as his emerald orbs adjusted to the bright light of the room, and he looked around. He saw wires and tubes coming from various machines that were attached to his chest and arm, frowning a little. 

"Loki, you're awake." Thor's voice made him turn his head to see the golden-haired god sitting in a chair a few feet away from the bed.

"Thor? What happened? Where am I?" He asked, moving to sit up and gasping a little - his head still hurt, and the room spun a little from his movements. 

"Be still, brother- you are not well." Thor said quietly, reaching over a placing a hand on his arm. Loki nodded, regretting the movement, and laid back down. "Banner found you unconscious in your room and brought you here to run tests of some kind." Loki huffed in annoyance. 

"I told the damned idiot I'm fine-" he insisted, though he knew that was an unconvincing lie. He wasn't fine, and he was sure that no one else was going to believe him either. The sound of the door opening made the gods look at the door to see Bruce standing there, holding a file. 

"You're awake, that's good. You hit your head pretty hard on the floor, but it's not serious. However, I've got your results back." The doctor said, stepping further into the room. 

"And?" Thor asked. "What's wrong with him?" 

"We don't know. We have to do more tests, run some scans, find out what's causing the headaches and there are some signs that he's been havinf seizures as well-" Bruce fell silent, looking at the two brothers. "But it doesn't look good. Thor, can I speak to you outside for a moment, please?" Thor looked at Loki on the bed, who gave a short nod to tell him he could leave. 

 

Once they were outside of the room, Bruce sighed and shook his head. Thor looked at him, worried.

"What was Loki like, before the whole world domination thing?" Bruce asked, looking at him. 

"What do you mean?" Thor asked, tilting his head. 

"Has he always been after the throne of Asgard, or was he different before that?" He asked. Thor thought for a moment.

"My brother has always been a trickster, but it is very unlike him to cause harm to anyone - most of tricks were harmless. Turning wine into snakes or into water, swapping items around, turning people temporarily into other creatures- he was always jealous of me growing up, but I suspect that was only due to the fact I blended in well with others on Asgard while he did not. Why?" Thor asked, wondering what this could have to do with Loki's current illness. 

"Did he get more violent, more... moody when the headaches started?" Thor nodded slowly. 

"Banner, tell me. What do you think is wrong with my brother?" He asked, stepping towards him. 

"I think-" Bruce was cut off by the sounds of a crash coming from Loki's room. Both immediately ran into the room, and saw Loki convulsing on the bed, eyes rolled back. Bruce bolted forward, ordering Thor to tilt Loki on to his side and hold him still. Thor did as he was told, gently grabbing his brother by the shoulders and tilting him on his side, Bruce quickly filling a syringe with something to stop the seizure, carefully injecting it into the IV that Loki was hooked up on. The seizure slowly came to a stop, and Loki's body relaxed on the bed, eyes fluttering closed. The two teammates stood back from the bed, Thor looking confused and Bruce looking concerned. 

"I'm not sure what you think is wrong with my brother, but I know that what just happened is not normal for Asgardians or Jotunns." Thor said, looking at Bruce. 

"I need to do more tests immediately." Bruce said, walking out to get more help from whoever SHIELD could help him right now. All he knew at the moment was that Loki was sick, and possibly fatally so. 


End file.
